Question
I have had a pothos plant for years. Whenever the vines get too long and lose their leaves, I take several cutting and start over. The last time I did this, I repotted into two pots so that I could have one for my new office, since I finally have a window. It's a north window, so I thought the pothos would do well, but all the leaves started getting burned. I guess the fact that it's a very very large north window caused too much light. So I moved the plant further from the window, somewhat hidden behind my monitor.

It seemed to do better for a while, then I noticed it was "weeping". Did some internet research and read up on guttation. Since the plant at home only gets watered when I remember, and the one at work was getting a nice weekly bath, I eased up on the watering. But it's still weeping, and the weeping leaves are also getting scorched at the tips and eventually die. On some of the vines the new growth is poor with small malformed leaves, or the leaf shoot dies before it gets large enough to form a leaf.

At first I thought of all this was just a reaction to the shock it got from too much light and too much water, but it's been about 3 months since I moved it and it's still not doing well. I don't know if there's anything else I can do or if I should just discard it and start some new cuttings from the healthy plant at home. (I could start some new cuttings from this plant, since 2 of the vines are long enough for that, but if this is some sort of disease, I figured the problem would just continue...) Any advice you can give?

Answer
Hi Mary,

Congratulations on your new office! Ironically, Pothos is an excellent office plant that does very well under overhead fluorescent lights alone. I care for dozens of them in windowless offices.

A north window should not be too much for a Pothos because a north window does not receive direct sun. Perhaps your window is not truly north and some direct sun comes in a for a few hours. That might be too much for it, although I don't thing light is the main problem.

Guttation is a process by which a plant eliminates excess water built up in its tissue, but it is not an indicator that the plant is being over watered.

When new leaves are brown or scorched, that is almost aways an indicator of root problems and probably rotting roots. I don't know how you started the cuttings, what kind of soil you used and how large a pot you used or how dry the soil gets between waterings, so it is hard for me to say just where you went wrong. But in any case, I am quite sure that if you unpot the plant you will find lots of rotted roots. Newly started plants are particularly prone to root rot.

If there are any healthy-looking stems on your office plant, take cuttings. Otherwise, take cuttings from your plant at home. Be sure to put the newly rooted cuttings in a very small pot filled with a soilless, peat-based potting mix.

For future reference, Pothos are best maintained by cutting them back whenever the individual vines get much more than  a foot to 18 inches long. Cut the long vines back to within three inches of the soil. This will keep the plant looking full and compact at all times and will eliminate the leaf loss that occurs when the vines get too long.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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If you would like to e-mail me some photos, I may be able to provide some additional insights.